May, 2023

The south of Ireland spends a lot of money on health, – approximately €22 billion in 2021, or 10% of the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Despite all this investment, the health system is accurately diagnosed as being poor. One of the main reasons for  poor performance is the underfunding of primary care. This has […]

An American Democrat, Lyndon Johnson, never demanded that all his fellow-citizens grovel in his adoration.    His test of loyalty for his partisan Texas supporters was that they kiss his posterior in the window of the Neiman Marcus Department Store in Dallas and swear that it smelt of roses.   The (Protestant) Archbishop of Canterbury […]

The English monarchy is often seen as a symbol of national identity and pride. However, there are growing criticisms about the cost of maintaining the monarchy, which is primarily funded by taxpayers. The monarchy is estimated to cost the UK government around £345m each year, and while some argue that this cost is worth it […]

        In 1943  Deputy Oliver Flanagan in Dail Eireann praised Hitler for how he was dealing with the Jews.   At the time Ireland had a rational, ethical government, and I don’t think even one of the blue-shirted fascists on the Opposition benches gave Flanagan any support.   Eighty years later Deputy […]

  How was it for you? No, not that – the Coronation. Did you stand upright and tall and swear fealty to the king? Was the £250 million it all cost money well spent? The British people seem to think so. Why is it that in spite of spending huge sums on health, the south […]

  The attendance of Michelle O’Neill and Alex Maskey at the coronation of King Charles III has upset some republicans. They see it as a sell-out by Sinn Féin of all that republicanism is about. Some republicans have said they’ll never vote for Sinn Féin again because of it. For them and doubtless others, presence […]

  Dáil Éireann has recently passed a bill that seeks to penalise ‘hate speech.’ On the surface this might seem appealing. After all, hate is ugly and there is no shortage of it, so perhaps there should be measures in place to curb this. However, this should not be a question of whether ‘hate speech’ […]

  The day that’s in it had me thinking about just how much we have changed as a people in this country.  By “country” I’m speaking generally as those people living on the island of Ireland and just how far we’ve come rather than just how far we still have to go.   From waging an […]

In the course of my working week, I drive the length and breadth of NEI and parts of the South.  From Lifford to Larne, from Ballintoy to Cullaville and beyond.  I drive through nationalist and Loyalist areas, Republican and Unionist areas and while one might not know one from the other if they weren’t from […]

Sharp-eared  viewers of this podcast/vlog will note that I introduce it as happening on Friday morning when in fact it’s Thursday. This of course was a deliberate error, to test Editor McArt’s comradeship. Did he gently correct me? Did he ****…   The topics we cover are the notion of voting in Irish elections ‘from […]